Kai Nieminen - Nightingale... Midnight Song... and Morning Rain... (2024)

Kai Nieminen : Nightingale... Midnight Song... and Morning Rain... (2024) for piano Eriko Takahashi, piano Live recording from the concert "Midnight Songs" on 11th September 2025, Estonian Center of Contemporary Music (Tallinn), Schönberg Hall Composed for / premiered (6.9.2025) by Eriko Takahashi "Nightingale... Midnight Song... and Morning Rain..." was inspired by the painting of the same title, by Joan Miró (1940). In his painting, Miró portrayed different moments – the night and the morning – on one canvas, and left the viewer space to imagine the song of the nightingale and the sound of the rain. Likewise, in the piano piece, the composer has left room for the imagination, so that we can feel those sounds and the atmosphere of the scenery. The piece includes many moments of silence, which were inspired by the concept of ‘Ma’ in Japanese culture. Such silences can also be heard in the music of Toru Takemitsu, with whom Kai feels the greatest musical affinity. (Eriko Takahashi) Joan Miró said of this painting that it is about sound, about singing, but the nightingale itself will not necessarily be found in the image; the painting is about rain, but this does not mean that the viewer should look for falling drops in it - perhaps there is only the sound of rain, perhaps only the smell. Nor is there one single time-zone in the painting, for the nightingale sings at midnight, and the rain begins in the morning. (Frederick Jones) Links: http://kainieminen.net/en/home/ https://ump.co.uk/composer/kai-nieminen/ https://erikotakahashi.com